Asus VG278H review

If only real life was in 3D, like on this PC monitor

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We're impressed with the efforts Asus has gone to with the VG278H's bezel. It's rare to get a height-adjustable panel outside of IPS screens, which is madness because it's a feature that everyone welcomes.

The panel surround does look a bit cheap and flimsy for a monitor costing over £500 (or $650 in the US), though.

The screen itself is an LED-backlit 27-inch TN, and as such image quality is a mixed bag.

It suffered gradient banding from white to black in our tests, displaying striped shades instead of smooth transitions. The viewing angle is also poor – and there's some serious colour distortion at wider angles.

But then there's LightBoost.

In 2D mode it doesn't count for much, but this screen (paired with Nvidia's new specs) produced the first truly clear, deep, colourful and frankly jaw-dropping 3D experience we've seen. And mostly thanks to that increased brightness .

Close-up objects don't appear to be painted on your eyeballs, and the middle ground doesn't look like a pop-up book, which is genuinely refreshing.

For the first time, we actually enjoyed the 3D experience. Who'd have thought something that sounded so much like marketing codswallop would actually be really good?

As a gaming monitor, this is top-notch.

If you're going to be the only one watching it, the viewing angle isn't much of an issue and it's plenty big enough. It will become a problem if you try to get two or more people involved, though, so be warned.

We liked

We're genuinely impressed by the 3D experience on offer from the Asus VG278H 3D PC monitor. The 3D Vision 2 glasses supplied team up with LightBoost to deliver better depth and image clarity than we've seen before in a 3D screen.

We disliked

The tradeoff for nippy 120 Hz computer screens is often image quality, and this monitor's no exception. Don't expect a professional-quality colour palette or brilliant viewing angles - this screen's purely about the 3D.

Final verdict

Factoring in the premium for the new LightBoost tech and LED backlighting, the £120 glasses thrown in, and the 27 inches of panel, the Asus VG278H certainly isn't a rip-off. For 3D lovers, this is a must-have, and for sceptics this could be a game-changer.

Flicker-free 3D Images with NVIDIA 3D Vision 2 Enter an immersive 3D full HD 1080p world of games and movies with the VG278H. Through the use of the world's first NVIDIA 3D Vision 2 glasses technology, it instantly takes you into another dimension - transforming all your gaming experiences and movies to 3D. With its new technology, it delivers twice sharper 3D images than conventional 3D technology. There are more than five hundreds popular PC game titles currently compatible with the NVIDIA 3D Vision Kit.